A Reflection on Educating the Educator

Education 6714 was an eye opening experience for me. While I always thought I treated each of my students as individuals and took their own needs into account while teaching, I was in for a surprise! One of the greatest discoveries was technology is“effective in reducing or removing restrictions that hinder the performance of normal human activities” (Bray, Brown, & Green, 2004, p. 9). I was not aware of the many resources available to students. With these resources I will be better prepared to met all the needs of my students, technology "can open doors for students who have been limited by an impairment" (Bray, Brown, & Green, 2004, p. 52). My student who is visually impaired had already received the benefits of reading novels online, being able to adjust the font and brightness of the screen. Such a simple thing has made life, and reading, much easier for my student.
The way I teach has also been altered. "Effective teaching starts with what students already know and leads them to knew understanding" (Alvermann, Phelps, & Ridgeway, 2007, p. 138). I have seen firsthand that what is done to introduce the lesson has just as much impact as the lesson itself. The lesson I created for this class was on the novel, Memoirs Of A Geisha (Golden, 1997), which contains difficult vocabulary and concepts. By integrating technology into this lesson, along with differentiated learning, the success as well as student engagement was much higher than in years past. I found UDL “provides maximum ability for students to learn,” (Laureate, 2009).
My view of assessments also changed during this course. “Using assessments to focus on student interests and learning preferences illustrated for me the power of emphasizing what works for students.” (Tomlinson, 2008 p. 5). I allowed the students to chose their assessments during his unit, and the results were wonderful. Not only did the students enjoy this lesson and for the most part went beyond what was required, their finished products were fantastic and showed a higher level of thinking than on past projects. By allowing them to have a choice, they felt more in charge of their learning, therefore more engaged. I statement that I found t be so true regarding this lesson was "the way each student arrives to the understanding of them is different (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). UDL allows for these variances.
The greatest lesson I took from this class was from Bray, Brown, and Green (2004) who suggest educators “identify the challenges and the gifts that many people share so that we may keep from overlooking, avoiding, or minimizing them” (p. 2). I will try to keep this in mind as I teach, to realize that each student in my class has particular gifts and it is up to me not to overlook or dismiss them.

Resources

Alvermann, D., Phelps, S., & Ridgeway, V. (2007). Content area reading and literacy: Succeeding in today's diverse classrooms. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Bray, M., Brown, A., & Green, T. (2004). Looking at gender, culture, and other diversities in the classroom: An overview. In Technology and the diverse learner: A guide to classroom practice (pp. 1–18). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Golden , A. (1997). Memoirs of a geisha. New York, NY: Vintage
Publishing.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2007). Program two: Assessing students [DVD]. Reaching and engaging all learners through technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

National Center on Universal Design for Learning (2011). UDL guidelines: Version 2.0. Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines

Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

The Final GAME Plan

The lesson that this teacher has learned throughout this class is when it comes to lesson plans, planning is as important as the execution. At the beginning of this class, I formulated a Game plan using the ISTE standards (2010). The two standards that I chose were

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
2. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

In the past I realized I had not let my students be fully self-directed, and take charge of their learning. By giving them the tools in which to explore and seek out answers on their own, I would be preparing them for a future in which they would be more confident in directing their own learning, rather than just doing assignments by rote. In order to achieve this goal, I needed to add more technology-enriched learning into m class. Our reading stated, “when technology is incorporated in an effective way, it can indeed facilitate creative thinking skills in the language arts classroom (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 196). I started this process by developing a class website, one in which we could post, view assignments and take assessments. I chose to use Schoology due to the ease of navigating the site. This has been a tremendous addition to my class, both for the students as well as myself. The students have gained confidence by using this site on a daily basis and I have gained confidence in using it on a daily basis. I will continue to add technology into my lessons in order to prepare my students for the future. Every student has different learning styles and this approach is helpful because it allows the student to both gain and seek information in several different ways, hopefully it will reach students who have different learning styles (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a). By modeling, I have also gained valuable insight in teaching. By engaging is my own learning, such as this class, the students see both the importance and relevance of being in charge of their won education.
My most immediate adjustment will be to add more digital storytelling. This is a wonderful tool to use, since it develops several skill in students.
“As with other mind tools, digital stories enable learners to reflect, represent, and communicate what they know” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p.67) Another benefit is student engagement, using “collaborative online tools and social networking, students are provided flexibility during the learning experience” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). I will continue to reflect, as well as plan in teaching, I see them in often overlooked but vital in the learning process. I have seen the improvement first hand. By implementing these wonderful lesson tools, hopefully my students will be most prepared for what is waiting on them in the future.
using collaborative online tools and social networking, students are provided flexibility during the learning experience (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).





References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2008). NETS for teachers 2008. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009a). Promoting self-directed learning with technology. [DVD] Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009b). Spotlight on Technology: Social Networking and Online Collaboration, Part 1. [DVD] Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Reflect...and take lots of notes!

What a journey, what an experience this has been. I must admit, I came to class hesitant and under the impression that this technology was more advanced than I was…how could I use this in my classroom? I realized that taking it a little piece at a time, (I tend to leap forward ten feet!) this was not only doable, but would be a great addition to my lessons as well as fun for my students. My first attempt was a huge success; the Schoology account has really taken off and proven to be a huge asset to both my students and myself. It is so convenient and really engages the students. Although there have been several glitches, teacher made I might add, it has been one of the best things I have incorporated into my classroom. Hopefully, it will continue to grow, which leads me to my point…finally! I have discovered that whatever the lesson, I must, must, must monitor and revise consistently. This has always been my intention, but I was negligent in the follow through. My next project, the digital storytelling is a new adventure that I am sure will be a hit, with the students as well as the audience in which they are presenting for. I am making a conscious effort to consistently monitor, revise and take notes, as this is the key for success in the future.

Revise, Review, Rewind

This week we actually worked on posting in the blogs created on Schoology. I was so excited, after several mis-steps, thinking I had gone over the material, everyone understood and we are ready to launch. The hardest part for me was being so hands off, it is not in my nature to be this way! I let the students discover, make mistakes and take the lead in this process. I would answer questions through our online messaging system, I really wanted this to be a learning process for them, one that was problem based and they could build on. The research took longer than I anticipated, and that put us a day behind, then the kids had a difficult time figuring out how to post, even though this had been gone over a zillion time, at least to me. After messaging, then revising y online instructions, it started coming together. Four days for what I scheduled one and a half days.....oh well, a learning experience and one I need to do further reflection for. The overall product was not what I was expecting and at this point I am debating from starting from square one, or having them revise...we are going to have a discussion tomorrow, so we will see. Another step in the right direction, just much slower than anticipated!

The next step...

This past week I saw so much progress, both in the students adapting to the Schoology account as well as the peer editing group. In evaluating each, I have found that I need to model the Schoology daily, and make it a part of the lesson. I also have started posting helpful hints, such as word list to use, in order to get some of the reluctant users motivation to check in daily as well. In the peer editing group, we are working on key components, such as thesis, topic sentences, grabbers, and giving the students parts to check. This way, they have these key items highlighted and labeled beforehand, it gives then a chance to look at it beforehand, I found the 30- to 40 minutes to be not enough time and I am working on ways to get the most done. This week we will begin the online editing and posting essays, wish me luck!

Monitoring the GAME

Ahhhh, Holidays, Breaks and Vacation…with a two-day work week, there was not a lot of work to be monitored on my GAME plan. I am still working on downloading to our site and have all students access the material. So far I have it to each class. I plan on playing around with it this weekend, in between the decorating, cleaning up and packing daughter back up for college. On a positive note, the trial run of my peer tutoring was a success. Right away I saw that it was imperative that the students have their rough drafts completed, this way the peer tutoring can focus on the edits and support and elaboration, rather than helping them write the entire paper. For the most part they were well behaved and focused, and it was not a struggle to get students to attend, I had 4 with the promise of several more after break.
On the personal development side, I downloaded my instructions for National Boards…hopefully I will actually get to read them later this week!

Week 2 of the GAME

This week was interesting to say the least. I have 100% of my students now signed up for their Schoology account, and have posted and downloaded assignments for the week. This part worked out well, as the flu is raging through my classes and twenty percent of my students have been absent. Feedback from the site, from both parents and students was positive. My editing and peer review did not go as well. My grand hopes of online interaction and editing came to a crashing halt as the system would only allow five students at a time to edit. This is my error and how I set up the system, so hopefully it will be resolved this week...wow, there is so much to think about when starting up! I did make a conscious effort to go over my lessons right after class and make notes, something I should have been doing all along, but now I am making it a habit. I have made a request for the computer lab, to have set times for my students, in an effort for all students to have access while I am around to answer questions. The only materials needed is a more techno-savvy teacher!
My next goal is to have a peer tutoring, it will have to be an after school project, for my struggling writers and diverse learners. It is my plan to have the students write their rough drafts in class, then have several peer tutors, I have five who have volunteered so far, go over and edit before they write their final copies.
On the personal front, to address my growth and development, I signed up for National Boards!
Call me crazy......